Hello BPC members!
Every pickleball club in the country has the same issues with the rating process and struggles to find enough qualified raters. During the 2015 season we rated way over 100 BPC members. These put an enormous stress on our volunteer raters and by the end of the season we had a hard time finding raters who wanted to be involved in ratings. Our recent survey sent out at the end of March 2016 shows that out of 318 responses 175 players or 55% are planning to move up. With our membership nearing 600 members, we might have to rate over 200 players in 2016. There is no way we will be able to accommodate this many players with our volunteer raters.
Solution: Hire a professional who can do the rating and have players pay for the service. We contacted Lisa Palcic to see if she would be interested rating our members. Lisa recently completed the ITPTA certification as a teaching pro.
The rating committee together with Lisa and the help of AJ and Irene Fraties, have come up with a revised rating process that will streamline the ratings process, improve the consistency of ratings, and reduce the demand on our volunteers.
In a nut shell this is how the rating procedure will work.
1) Players who wish to be rated must read the Skill Level Definitions on the BPC website. SIGN UPS WILL OPEN AT 7:00AM ON 4/27/16.
2) Sign up on BPC Signup Genius website either as individual player or in groups of 4, all within your skill level.
3) On the day of your rating, show up 15 minutes early and warm up.
4) Your rating session will consist of a 20 minute skill drill session and 30 minutes of doubles play with 3 different partners. During the skill drill session and doubles play, you will have to demonstrate the skills needed to move up to the next skill level. Notes/ratings forms will be taken during doubles play. Ratings forms will be discussed at end of session and constructive feedback provided.
5) Cost of rating session is $20 per player, but BPC will pay 50% ($10.) If you cancel less than 24 hours prior or do not show up you will be billed the full $20,unless you find a replacement player of the same skill level. Players have the ability to re-test 1 time each month if they feel they have improved. That cost is $20 and is not subsidized by BPC.
6) At the end of the session Lisa will pass on the evaluation form to the Rating Chair. The Rating Chair will update the club database and if the player has been moved up he/she is eligible to sign up for organized play at the new skill level within 48 hours.
7) BPC will continue do the ratings for 2.0 players moving to 2.5 through the Assisted Play program and also continue with the 92% formula of the RR scores as outlined on the website.
Your Rating Committee feels that same person/rating team is rating all the players will result in consistency and players will accept the rating from a professional better than from a fellow member. Also, Lisa will continue ratings during the winter months; hence players are not stuck at the same skill level for 6 months. We believe our new rating procedure could become a model for other clubs. While we think it is nice for BPC to take the lead in this, more important for us is that we find a better way to serve our members and not burn out our volunteers.
